The terms folic acid and folate are often used interchangeably for this water-soluble B-complex vitamin. Folic acid, the most stable form, occurs rarely in foods or the human body, but is the form most often used in vitamin supplements and fortified foods. Naturally occurring folates exist in many chemical forms. Folates are found in foods as well as in metabolically active forms, in the human body (1). In the following discussion forms found in food or the body will be referred to as “folates”, while the form found in supplements or fortified foods will be referred to as “folic acid”.